Earlier today on July 15, Blizzard published a brand new list of patch notes for Overwatch 2 over on the game’s official website (opens in new tab). This new patch seems to be aimed at Tank characters in particular, as Doomfist, Orisa, and Junker Queen have all seen changes to some degree.

For example, Junker Queen’s Commanding Shout ability has seen its radius reduced from 20 to 15 meters, and Orisa’s movement speed with the Javelin Spin ability has been increased from 40 to 50 percent. Elsewhere, Doomfist’s Rocket Punch ability now deals damage to all enemies knocked back by the ability, instead of only just the first target hit.

Additionally, Junker Queen’s Rampage ability has seen its radius reduced from six to five meters, and Orisa’s Fortify ability now disables critical damage. Finally, Doomfist’s Power Block ability has seen its speed penalty while blocking reduced from 50 to 35 percent, and the minimum damage mitigated to empower Rocket Punch has now been decreased from 100 to 90 damage.

Tanks might be the broad focus of this new patch for Overwatch 2’s Beta, but the patch has also hit Symmetra, Sojourn, and Zenyatta. The former has seen the Teleporter ability cooldown reduced from 16 to 12 seconds, while the latter has had his overall shield health reduced from 175 points to 150. Meanwhile, Sojourn’s Railgun fire rate has been reduced from 15 to 14 shots per second.

This is actually the second Overwatch 2 Beta patch this week, as a few days ago, Mercy’s Guardian Angel “super jump” ability was finally fixed with a new update. Elsewhere in the same patch, Moira actually got a full rework, seeing her Biotic Orb ability actually turned into separate abilities, each with different cooldown periods.

Check out our full Overwatch 2 beta impressions to see what we made so far of Blizzard’s upcoming sequel. 

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As we explained at the time the beta went live, fans over on the Overwatch and Mercy Mains subreddits complained that the healer now feels clunky and awkward to play (opens in new tab). 

One of the main parts of Mercy’s kit targeted was her Guardian Angel ability, which allows her to fly over 30 meters to a companion swiftly. Since the changes came in, however, you’ll automatically be launched upwards if you float the entire distance, and an animation cancel that you could use for a big vertical boost has been canned.

Turns out the changes weren’t quite what the team had in mind, however, not least because Mercy’s super jump was “completely unintentional” in the first place.

“Guardian Angel gives Mercy important mobility that is key to her survivability,” Blizzard explained in the post. “Over time, players learned that if you jump during the ability at a specific time, you could launch Mercy up into the air. This is super cool; however, it was completely unintentional. Mercy’s ‘super jump’ was the result of a bug that occurred during Guardian Angel, but players made it a part of her utility.”

However, Blizzard soon realized that this change had “some issues” during the first week of the beta, and has now decided it will be “changing up the ability in the mid-cycle patch” and give players more control over Guardian Angel.

“We liked the idea of a bug turned into a feature, so the changes to Mercy in this beta were meant to make the super jump more reliable and consistent,” the blog explained.

Instead of launching Mercy immediately into the air, players will now see a meter that charges when the ability is active and when canceling Guardian Angel with Jump, Mercy will “now be launched into the direction she is facing”. The more charged the meter, the more momentum she’ll get during her jump.

Mercy wasn’t the only hero to get a tweak, either. Symmetra “didn’t quite fit into the play space Overwatch 2’s changes were defining” and whilst the team had hoped the tweaks made to her Teleporter and secondary fire projectile speed would make up for some of this, Blizzard admits it “overshadowed these with other nerfs”.

Consequently, Symmetra will now have her secondary fire projectile size reverted to as it was before, and the charge time reduced to one second. Her Teleporter cooldown has been cut by 25 per cent, too, so it now takes 12 seconds, not 16.

Last but definitely not least, the update confirmed that tank queue times have now improved as players rushed to try the new hero, but as she’s still early in the testing phase, Blizzard is “going to continue to watch how she performs in the beta to prepare her for our launch”.

“The first week of the Overwatch 2 Beta is behind us – time flies when you’re having fun!” the studio added. “The team has been hard at work compiling player feedback, squashing bugs, and gearing up for the mid-cycle patch.

“There are some other heroes we are watching, like Zenyatta and Sojourn, who may need to be tuned down a little prior to launch. We like the direction of Roadhog’s ultimate changes in the beta, and we’re now working on making it feel more intuitive and polished.”

Fancy getting involved? Here’s how to get into the Overwatch 2 beta. (opens in new tab)

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The technique was discovered by content creator McMagicMarv, and you can see it in action in the video below. It’s simple, though the timing is very specific – you fire a grenade straight up into the air, then just as the weapon’s cooldown refreshes and the explosive hits the ground, you fire another grenade at your feet. One big double boom and you’re flying through the air to previously unreachable locations.

This new bit of movement tech only became possible as part of the new beta launched on June 28. As revealed in the patch notes (opens in new tab), Bastion’s grenade has had its cooldown reduced from ten to eight seconds, which is just enough time to pull off the trick.

Getting into surprising new locations could give Bastion a major advantage, but the fact that this trick requires eight seconds of standing more or less perfectly still certainly limits its versatility. As it stands, players broadly seem to think (opens in new tab) it’s (opens in new tab) pretty (opens in new tab) cool (opens in new tab), and barring any more serious exploits, they’re hopeful it remains in the game.

Not every change in the new beta has proven so popular, however, as Mercy’s adjustments have proven pretty controversial. At least Junker Queen is here to ease our sorrows.

Blizzard has confirmed Overwatch 2 will fully replace the original game at launch, but your currency and loot box contents will transfer over.

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The development team at Blizzard behind Overwatch 2 recently held a Reddit ‘ask me anything’ session with the game’s community. When one player asked what the launch of Overwatch 2 in early access in October this year would mean for the original game, one developer on the game revealed that it would effectively be replacing the current live service for the first Overwatch.

In other words, Overwatch will cease to exist when Overwatch 2 eventually launches. “When OW2 launches on Oct 4th it will be a replacement for the current Live Service” were the developer’s words in particular, leaving no room for any doubt about Overwatch 2 completely taking over the scene from the original Overwatch.

It’s hardly a surprise that Blizzard would switch all resources over to its new game. Earlier this year in March, Blizzard even admitted the focus on Overwatch 2 left the original game struggling with a lack of new content, so considering this, you can see why the development team would be keen to focus on one game alone.

However, there was good news for Overwatch players to be found in the new Reddit AMA. It turns out all your currencies and loot boxes from the original game will transfer over to Overwatch 2 as soon as it enters early access, so you don’t need to worry about leaving your hard-earned gains behind when you go.

Head over to our recent Overwatch 2 beta hands-on impressions to see why it made us feel like we were playing Overwatch 1.5.

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Just yesterday on April 26, Overwatch 2 kicked off its limited PvP beta on PC. Players delving into the new demo found out that the sequel has an entirely redesigned in-game scoreboard, as you can see below, displaying player stats like damage dealt, health healed, deaths, assists, and eliminations while a match rolls on.

However, players a little bit hesitant at the change to the scoreboard. A more expansive scoreboard in Overwatch 2 could lead to more griefing against players that aren’t doing so well, some of the replies to the subreddit post just above claim, saying some will undoubtedly get “flamed” over it.

Additionally, some players believe there should be a stat reflecting how much healing a player has received from others. The thinking around this stat appears to be based on who’s been supported by their teammates the most, presumably so no one can get too cocky at the top of the scoreboard.

In all, there’s definitely a mixed feeling from Overwatch 2 players towards the new scoreboard system. Some are voicing concerns that it might even be a little too detailed and confusing to read, but since this is Overwatch 2’s first public playtest in the beta phase, there should be plenty of time for Blizzard to make the appropriate changes they feel are necessary before the game eventually launches.

Check out our guide on how to get into the Overwatch 2 beta if you’re looking to get in on the action.

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The Overwatch 2 PVP beta starts today at 11:00 PT / 14:00 ET / 19:00 BST and will run until May 17. If you’re interested in taking part in the PC only event, you’re probably curious as to what hardware you’ll need.

User GXTnite shared the system requirements (opens in new tab) for the Overwatch 2 beta on the game’s subreddit (opens in new tab), and thankfully they don’t appear to be too demanding. Blizzard has provided the minimum specs you’ll need for targeting 30fps, as well as the recommended hardware for running the game at 60fps on medium settings.

Below are the system requirements for the Overwatch 2 PvP Beta:

Minimum (targeting 30fps):  

• Operating system: Windows® 7 / Windows® 8 / Windows® 10 64-bit (latest Service Pack)  
• Processor: Intel® Core™ i3 or AMD Phenom™ X3 8650  
• Video: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 600 series, AMD Radeon™ HD 7000 series  
• Memory: 6 GB RAM  
• Storage: 50 GB available hard drive space 

Recommended (targeting 60fps on medium settings): 

• Operating system: Windows® 10 64-bit (latest Service Pack)  
• Processor: Intel® Core™ i7 or AMD Ryzen™ 5  
• Video: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 or AMD R9 380  
• Memory: 8 GB RAM  
• Storage: 50 GB available hard drive space

It’s worth noting that these are the system requirements for the beta and that they’re likely to change ahead of the release of the full game, especially as the lack of technical optimisation means that most players hopefully won’t be targeting 30fps when that launch comes around. For now, Blizzard suggests that you make sure you’ve got all of your drivers up to date to allow the game to run as smoothly as possible.

There are two ways to secure your place in Overwatch 2’s first beta. You can sign up via email for a chance to be selected by Blizzard or tune in to watch specific Twitch streamers. Find out exactly what you need to do with our guide on how to get into the Overwatch 2 beta.

Now’s the perfect time for a beta for Blizzard’s hero shooter sequel. Here’s why we need the Overwatch 2 beta now more than ever.

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In a tweet (opens in new tab), the Ybarra said: “Blizzard is a big studio and we have talented and growing teams supporting live games as well. Over the coming weeks, you’ll be hearing more on that from Warcraft and Overwatch. Diablo will follow. Stay tuned!”

Blizzard is a big studio and we have talented and growing teams supporting live games as well. Over the coming weeks, you’ll be hearing more on that from Warcraft and Overwatch. Diablo will follow. Stay tuned!January 25, 2022

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Ybarra’s tweet was in response to a fan who criticised the fact Blizzard is working on a survival game set in “a whole new universe.” This new project was announced yesterday alongside some concept art and job listings in a blog post on the official Blizzard website.  

Updates on these beloved Blizzard franchises has got to be good news to fans, especially considering we haven’t heard too much about Overwatch 2 since it was announced in 2019. It was recently claimed that Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick contributed to delays with months of lost dev time and that not only Overwatch 2 but Diablo 4 have been pushed out of 2022 so they reach their “full potential.” Last we heard about Diablo 4, the game had reached “a significant milestone,” but we still shouldn’t expect the game to release this year.

In case you missed it, Microsoft recently announced that it was buying Activision for almost $70 billion. This means any studios under the Activision brand – including Blizzard, King, Toys for Bob, Raven Software, and more – will soon belong to Microsoft. Don’t worry just yet though, Activision games will still be enjoyed on a variety of platforms despite Xbox takeover. 

Want to find out what else you can look forward to this year? Take a look at our new games 2021 list. 

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During the Overwatch 2 PvP reveal event, game director Aaron Keller (who replaced Jeff Kaplan after he left Blizzard last month), made the announcement that there will only be five players per team. 

This means that role queue, a mechanic introduced last year, will also change. Role queue makes players choose between healer, damage-per-second, and tank roles prior to starting matchmaking, and stacks teams of six with two of each role type. With the teams reduced to just five players in Overwatch 2, the role queue stack will shift to 2-2-1: two DPS, two support, and one tank. 

This will effectively remove the off-tank role, which serves to support the main tank who blocks damage and establishes space. Typically players consider heroes like Dva, Zarya, Roadhog, and Hammond to be off-tanks, as they can’t produce shields. What this will mean for the Overwatch League professional players is unclear, but expect it to have a huge impact. 

“There are a lot of reasons for why we wanted to make this change,” Keller explains during the stream. “Overwatch has changed over time… we feel like this is the next step in the way that Overwatch ought to be played. If you think about it, there’s a lot going on in an Overwatch map. It’s incredibly fast-paced. We have always tried to make our combat easy to read and very understandable, and even with all of the work that we put into that, sometimes it’s just hard to track what 11 other players are doing on the battlefield.” Keller suggests that removing two of these players will make it easier to understand what’s happening around you. As a support main, I concur.

Overwatch 2 will also change some of the heroes’ abilities, including Winston, Mei, Zarya, and Reinhardt. Plus, all support players will now have a passive healing ability. Just how these changes will pan out remains to be seen, but we’ll know whenever Overwatch 2 debuts (a release date was not one of the things Blizzard revealed in the stream).

Make sure to check out the Overwatch Anniversary Event 2021. 

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Overwatch 2 is going to bring about some big changes to the nature and structure of the series’ action, and it’s a challenge Blizzard is eager to take on. “Overwatch 2 is probably the largest opportunity we’ve had since the inception of the franchise to expand what Overwatch means to our players,” says game director Jeff Kaplan, speaking at BlizzCon Online (opens in new tab). “Our goal is for Overwatch 2 to be a worthy successor to the first game. To be the next evolution and to be a true sequel.”

Hero Missions

The most significant addition to Overwatch 2 comes in the form of player versus environment scenarios. Hundreds of them, split between Story missions, designed to expand the Overwatch lore in-game rather than through cinematics, and Hero missions, a vehicle to level up your favoured heroes and chill with buddies. Where standard play pits six heroes against six, these missions are designed to offer a “co-op PvE experience,” as associate game director Aaron Keller put it at BlizzCon 2021. 

Four heroes band together to take on a variety of AI-controlled threats, through scenarios designed to expand the world of Overwatch and showcase Blizzard’s impressive new technology. “Hero missions are the content that people are playing as they level up their heroes. For a system like this to really sing, you need a lot of missions. We don’t want players to feel like they are in a grind to get to the top,” Keller continues. “The goal is to make as many as possible.” 

Blizzard is trying to get hundreds of missions ready for launch, exploring ways to create variance in its maps, mission types, and enemy units. Overwatch 2 will support all 21 Overwatch maps, many of which are being opened up and extended with new areas and zones to accommodate co-op focused play. However, all attention should be on the beautiful new spaces: Rome, Toronto, New York City, Gothenburg, and Rio de Janeiro, which are among some of the most expansive and detailed the studio has ever created. 

Blizzard is introducing a dynamic weather model to Overwatch 2’s PvE scenarios, new technology that’s designed to completely change the look, feel, and playability of the new maps. “You might start a mission off in clear day and, midway through the mission, suddenly this sandstorm or heavy weather will show up,” teases associate art director Dion Rogers. “Before you start a mission, you’ll look at a map; it’s night time in Necropolis, or there’s a sandstorm in Necropolis, and players can make some composition choices based on knowing this information. Heroes like Hanzo or Widowmaker start to be a little more valuable as they have abilities to see through the sand more clearly”

Overwatch was initially designed around competitive play. All of the playable heroes are perfectly weighted against the other, rather than AI threats that move in waves and utilise the environment in ways that the player is traditionally unable to. As a result, Blizzard is still tinkering away with combat and enemy design to make Overwatch 2 as fun as possible for groups looking to get it in some cooperative action. “When we look back at BlizzCon 2019, some of the criticism we had,” Kaplan continues, “was that combat just wasn’t engaging enough. The fact that our combat wasn’t engaging enough to us, as players, meant that we had a problem with enemy units – they just weren’t interesting enough.”

That’s where resources are primarily being invested. Work is being done to make enemy attacks varied, dynamic, and clearly readable. The studio is attempting to push the boundaries of what its updated engine can do, introducing a fidelity of gameplay experience that is far richer than before, and expanding the world with a cinematic flair. Hero missions are where Blizzard believes that you’ll be spending the majority of your time – outside of PvP, of course – so it’s keen to get it right, and work at achieving that goal for as long as it takes. 

Overwatch 2 talent trees

The reason that you’ll spend so much time coming back to these Hero missions, Blizzard believes, is that it’s where you’ll really be able to experiment with your favourite heroes and adapt them to better fit your playstyle. Exclusive to the PvE side of the game – and turned off for competitive PvP multiplayer – Overwatch 2 is introducing true hero customisation, and in a way that will fill any long-time fans of Blizzard games with happiness. 

“As a huge RPG nerd myself, the first time I opened up the talent tree systems I was like ‘oh my gosh, this is speaking my love language!’ I just want to plan, and I want to see where I’m going to invest and how I’m going to play this character,” says Julia Humphreys, production director of Overwatch 2. That’s right, Overwatch 2 now comes equipped with a talent tree that any fans of World of Warcraft will be immediately familiar with. 

The idea, Keller continues, is that “players will be able to jump in, night after night, play different hero missions, and then work through the progression system levelling up their heroes”. As you push through the different mission types, enemy variants, and coming out on top versus the unique weather conditions, you’ll eventually earn Talent Points. These can be invested across three trees that each hero has access to, such as Crusader, Juggernaut, and Guardian for Reinhardt, each of which emphasises different elements of his Tank class. 

Eventually, with enough tinkering, Blizzard believes that you’ll be able to “control the battlefield in new and novel ways”. As lead hero designer Geoff Goodman put it at BlizzCon: “Designing these is super fun, because we get to break all of the rules that we established for ourselves. We get to take the gloves off and do crazy things,” he says, giving only a tease as to how heros may change. “Junkrat could dual wield grenade launchers. Mercy could area effect res an entire team from a distance and through walls. It’s been a ton of fun – we feel like mad scientists making all this stuff.”

Story missions

Overwatch 2 PvP

Eager to learn more about the competitive multiplayer side to Blizzard’s arena shooter? The studio says that Overwatch 2 PvP will be “a pretty big departure” from what exists in Overwatch today

When Overwatch launched in 2016, it had little ambition to be anything more than a competitive team-based shooter. Its heroes were certainly expressive, given life beyond their renders thanks to some sterling voiceover work across the roster, but they were effectively vessels we could channel our competitive energy into. Five years later, the world of Overwatch has grown substantially – lore teased out through one-liners, animated shorts, and written tie-ins. With Overwatch 2, Blizzard wants to express the story through the game itself. 

“In Zero Hour, we saw that some of the heroes got back together,” teases Kaplan, pointing us back to the 2019 cinematic short that depicted a Null Sector invasion and Winston assembling a strike team to fend off a second huge Omnic uprising. “The world of Overwatch is this bright shiny future. So how do you take that bright shiny future and how dark can the world of Overwatch go?” says Jeff Chamberlain, Overwatch 2 creative director. “Because the scale of this game is so huge – it takes place across the whole world, basically – it just requires constant iteration and constant refinement to make the story the best that we can make it.”

That’s the framework for the Overwatch 2 Story Missions – just one of the components being introduced in the upcoming sequel. In this globetrotting story, you’ll be able to link up with friends and push through the largest and most dynamic maps Blizzard has ever created for Overwatch. You’ll encounter the type of character interaction that’s been largely relegated to fan fiction, bolstered by cinematic action, dynamic scenario design, multiple hero choices per-mission, a branching dialogue system contextualised to hero composition, and more. 

There are some questions out there as to whether Blizzard is offering enough of a reason to upgrade to Overwatch 2. While PvP players may well be content to stick with the 2016 release, everything we have seen of the PvE side to the game – the Story and Hero missions, as well as progression and talent trees – would demonstrate that Overwatch 2 is going to be a worthy sequel deserving of your time and attention. 

Wondering when you’ll be able to get your hands on Overwatch 2? Sadly, Activision says Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2 aren’t releasing in 2021, so you’ll have to wait a little while longer.

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